


Bedtime Stories

by BiaPendragon



Series: Felannie2019 [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Bedtime Stories, F/M, Family Fluff, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-31 07:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiaPendragon/pseuds/BiaPendragon
Summary: Felix's son wants him to read a bedtime story. Of course he picks *that* bookFor Felannie Week Day 4: Literature





	Bedtime Stories

**Author's Note:**

> So I managed to hurt my thumbs by typing too much on my phone and got (very) delayed since I couldn't write until they stopped hurting. I hope you guys enjoy!

One more letter. That was all he had to respond to before he could finally leave the office. Something about a property dispute near Conand; one farmer claimed a calf belonged to him as he was the owner of the cow while another claimed it was his as he owned the bull. This had led to a feud between their families which was now consuming the village. Felix wished he could just split the damn animal which started this mess in half and finish the conflict, but alas, a duke's life could not be so simple. 

He placed the letter down on the table as he tried to come up with the best solution to this feud. He could try to bribe one of the farmers to just give up on the fight, but that did not guarantee that the rest of the village would stop fighting now. He could set a group of soldiers down to investigate, but that might heighten the tensions of the villagers and just worsen the fighting. Or he could go there himself and speak to both parties. 

As Felix started to draft a reply to the village elder, he heard his door creaking. 

"Daddy! Daddy!" Little Glenn screamed as he ran to his father. Felix barely had time to turn around before a little mess of dark blue hair and huge blue eyes were looking up at him from the side of the chair.

"Glenn, no! Daddy is busy!" Annette followed after her son, her blue eyes worried that the little boy had escaped from her hands.

Felix figured the letter could wait and picked up his son, sitting him on his lap. He could only smile as Annette mouthed the word 'sorry.'

"Daddy said he would read tonight! Won't you dad?" 

"Ok. I will." Felix could not remember telling his son he would read to him, but this was much preferable to finishing that letter at the current moment. 

The boy nodded but did not move to leave his father's lap.

"Glenn, let's go get ready as daddy finishes up." Annette tried to hold the boy's hand, but Glenn swatted her hand away.

"No, I want daddy to read now." 

"Alright, alright." Felix said as he stood up, making sure that his energetic toddler could not escape his arms. He started to make his way over to the children’s room, as Annette walked beside him. "What do you want me to read tonight."

"The book auntie Ingrid gave me! The one with the pretty cover with the knight!" 

Felix tensed as he remembered that book, a weathered copy of  _ The Sword of Kyphon _ . It was not just any edition of that blasted tale; it was the copy his brother used to read to him when they were children. It had been his brother's favorite book. After the tragedy Felix had tried to throw it out, but his father had allowed Ingrid to keep it as a memento. Of course she had kept the damn thing all these years. And of course she had given it to his son when she visited the previous week. He still remembered the death glare he gave Ingrid as the boy opened the package. If Annette had not pointed out how happy their son looked as he flipped through the pages to look at the pictures, Felix would have thrown the book back at Ingrid. 

Annette placed a hand on his shoulder, waking him up from his memories. “Felix? I can read if you want.”

“No. I’ll do it.”

“Oh I know! We can alternate pages! I’ll read one page and you can read the other.” Annette said with a bright smile. 

Felix blushed at the idea while his son squealed in delight. 

He settled the boy in his bed and picked up the book from the nightstand as he sat to the boy’s left and Annette sat to the boy’s right. He did not remember it being this heavy, and yet lifting it felt like a formidable task. The pages had yellowed with time and the cover was more damaged than he last recalled, but this was the book indeed. 

He opened the book. The page had an image of a knight heading out of a castle. How many times had he seen this image before? How many times had he imagined this knight as Glenn or himself? He tried to read the text beneath the image. No words came out. All he felt was a pain in his chest as he remembered sitting on his brother’s lap as Glenn read to him.

Annette seemed to understand what the silence meant. She placed a hand over his and started reading instead. “Once upon a time, there was a knight named Kyphon…” 

Felix had always found her voice captivating and soothing, and this time was no exception. The story sounded so different coming from her gentle lips than it had coming from his brother’s. It sounded happy and new, making him forget that there was a point he had this book almost memorized. The energy she poured as she read each word helped slowly wash away the pain. 

When she turned the page, he found the strength to read the book despite the distant memories which called him. At first he was hesitant, stopping after every few words to push painful memories out of his brain. But Annette encouraged him to keep going with her bright smile while his son’s questions helped keep him focused on the present. With each page they passed, it became easier as old memories became replaced with newer memories. 


End file.
